Well, it seems that Trinh is in a bind for sure. Some questions and suggestions that come to mind are:
*Did she explicitly state that students can get a hold her via numerous avenues and not set up just one direct email for questions or concerns?
*I understand that teachers and professors like to give students options for communicating between one another, but perhaps comments and questions between students can be done through blogs, twitter and Blackboard discussions? Leave questions to the professor via her personal email only if they can’t find the answer to it from their colleagues?
*Why are students emailing her so frequently? Are the course instructions not clearly stated in the beginning?
*She could set up 3 different blogs for the student’s living in South Africa, New Zealand and Finland? This way, all comments and basic assignment questions could be asked between the students and not having to always involve the professor? We do something similar with our Maple, Oak and Aspen groups. The groups wouldn’t be private either, allowing everyone to see and share their ideas.
*She could adopt the SOUL (Slow Online and Ubiquitous Learning) theory (Feng & Petrina, 2012). In my ETEC 511 course, we used this method and it allowed for a more deeper understanding of content and less stress by assignment deadlines. Perhaps her emails from students are asking for extensions or clarification, when the students could perhaps answer their own question if given more time?
*She could set virtual office hours via Skype or Blackboard Collaborate?
*At the end of each course, she could send out an online feedback form to the students asking for comments or suggestions? She could use this feedback for her future courses. ie) What do you find is the best way to communicate with the professor and with your colleagues?
Feng, F., & Petrina, S. (2012) SOUL (Slow Online and Ubiquitous Learning). Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/5065965/SOUL_Slow_Online_and_Ubiquitous_Learning_